The big picture
The brand on your plan is not what sets your speed
The plan name on the box, "Fast", "Superfast", "unlimited", is marketing. What actually decides whether your video calls drop out and your downloads crawl is rarely the brand. It is three things almost no advertisement mentions: the technology the NBN ran to your address, the busy-hour speed of the tier you buy, and the wifi inside your own walls. Get those three right and a cheaper plan often beats a dearer one. The recommender on the right turns "which speed?" into a straight answer, then each guide below shows how the rest of it works.
The trap to avoid: picking a plan on the headline price or a bigger speed number, then blaming the retailer when the evening crawl arrives. A dearer tier cannot beat the technology at your address, and no plan fixes weak wifi. Match the speed to how your household really uses the line, confirm what your address can take, then put that on the sharpest price. Do it in that order and you stop paying for speed you can never receive.
Where your real speed comes from
Three things decide your internet experience
Spend on the wrong one and nothing improves. These are the three that actually move the needle.
The technology at your address
Full fibre, HFC cable, fibre-to-the-node copper or fixed wireless each have a hard ceiling. The same plan behaves differently street to street, which is why the connection type matters more than the brand.
The speed tier you buy
Retailers quote a typical busy-hour speed for 7pm to 11pm. That evening figure, not the theoretical maximum, is what you live with when the whole street is online at once.
The wifi in your walls
A great plan still feels slow through an old router or across a double-brick house. Placement, the right tier of wifi and a sensible extender often fix what looks like a "slow internet" problem.
Explore the guides
Everything from the NBN to satellite, explained
Independent, Australia-specific guides on choosing, connecting and fixing your internet, with no retailer barracking for your business.
Choose a plan
NBN deals explained
Why the headline intro price is a trap, and how to read the revert price before you sign.
Unlimited broadband
Why "unlimited" is no longer the feature that matters, and what to look at instead.
No-contract broadband
The real lock-in is the hardware, not the contract. Here is how month-to-month works.
EOFY internet deals
End-of-financial-year offers, and the revert price that decides if they are worth it.
NBN technology & networks
HFC NBN explained
Pay-TV cable repurposed for broadband: real speeds, sharing and value.
ADSL internet
Why the physics of copper still slows the slowest NBN connections.
Opticomm network
The private fibre network in many new estates, and how it works.
Opticomm vs the NBN
Same fibre to the home, a much thinner retailer market.
NBN points of interconnect
Why your real speed is decided locally, at the POI that serves your suburb.
Beyond the NBN
5G home internet
Fixed wireless without a fixed line, and why the speeds vary so much.
Home wireless broadband
4G and 5G home plans compared with the NBN, honestly.
Satellite internet
How it really works in the bush, and the latency you cannot wish away.
Starlink vs Sky Muster
The real difference between the two satellite options for rural Australia.
Speed, setup & your home network
Home phone & VoIP
When something goes wrong
Keep exploring
The guides are step one. Here is where they lead.
Once you know the speed and technology you need, compare the retailers that serve your address, and line up the rest of the move.
Internet providers A-Z
Compare the NBN, 5G and satellite retailers that supply your address, side by side.
ExploreMoving home? Transfer your internet
Whether to take your plan with you or switch at the new address, by provider.
ExploreMobile plans & providers
Pair your home broadband with the right SIM, or go mobile-only with 5G.
ExploreCommon questions
A Selectra expert answers your internet questions
For one or two people who browse, email and stream in HD, NBN 50 is usually plenty. A busy household of three or more, with several people streaming, working from home and gaming at once, is the sweet spot for NBN 100. NBN 250 and above only earns its price if you regularly move very large files or have many heavy users at the same time. The recommender at the top of this page gives you a starting tier in one click.
No. In many areas a 5G or 4G home wireless plan is a genuine alternative, and outside the fixed network, satellite (including Starlink and Sky Muster) covers the bush. Each has trade-offs in speed, latency and reliability, which the "Beyond the NBN" guides above set out plainly.
Retailers quote a typical busy-hour speed measured between 7pm and 11pm, when everyone is online at once. If your evening speed falls well short of that figure, the cause is usually congestion at your local point of interconnect, an older connection technology, or wifi inside your home rather than the line itself.
Yes. Almost every modern NBN, 5G and satellite plan runs without a traditional copper phone line. If you still want a home phone, it now runs as VoIP over the internet connection, which is why a power cut also cuts the phone unless you have a battery backup.
Your underlying connection stays in place, because the NBN line belongs to the network, not the retailer. You move to a new provider on the same line, usually with little or no downtime. The provider closure guide walks through the steps and your rights.